by Vivian Arend
She sighed. “I need a ride. I didn’t drive.”
The distance to his truck stretched out seemingly for miles. She ignored his helping hand and crawled into the cab, stared out the window and ignored him.
Troy drove in silence. Heck, he didn’t say a word the entire time it took to drive, park, then cross the distance to her back door. Nicole fumbled in the fading light for her key.
He waited until they were safely in her living room to start his full-on attack. “I didn’t show up tonight to be a pain in your ass—”
“Too bad,” she muttered, “because you did a fabulous job.”
“Do you mind?”
“Oh, was I interrupting?” She gestured grandly for him to proceed. “By all means, please continue.”
He let her sarcasm slip this time. “I finally woke up and clued in after we talked the other day.”
“What huge revelation overtook your life, and apparently mine?”
He guided her to the couch before sitting on the edge of the coffee table in front of her. “You said you needed to move on. That it was time to take the next step, and I realized I want to be the man who takes those steps with you.”
“Troy, you’re not making any sense.”
“Why? Because I’m not allowed to change? That doesn’t seem fair. If you can decide it’s time to grow up and move on, then I can as well.”
“Yes, I suppose. But it doesn’t mean we’re going to move on together,” she insisted.
“Again, why not?”
“Because you’re not the kind of guy a girl gets involved with when she wants to settle down and start a family.” Her volume increased as the words raced out.
“I wasn’t that kind of guy. Just like you weren’t that type of girl. If we’re going to change, we may as well change together.”
She raised her hands and pressed her fingers against her temples. “You’re not listening. Or maybe I’m not smart enough to explain it.”
He circled her wrists and brought her hands into his lap. He stroked her fingers with his, soothing best he could. “Deep breath and try again. What type of guy does this new girl get involved with, then, if not someone like me?”
Nicole stared at where he touched her, his thumb caressing the back of her knuckles. “If I go by my sisters, someone who is dead serious about the people in their lives. Settled, with a solid job.”
“If you dare say ‘quiet and laidback’ I’m going to laugh in your face, you know,” Troy warned.
She waved a hand. “I know my family lives at mosh pit at a rock concert volume, but they’re solid when it comes to being there for each other. They don’t do things on a whim. They plan.”
For fuck’s sake. “Spontaneity is not evil, Nic. Just because we enjoy life, you and me, it doesn’t mean we can’t be in a full-time, committed relationship.”
“That’s not the way I see it.”
“Then give me a chance to make you see it,” he said. “What would it hurt for you and me to officially date and try to make a go of it?”
“It wouldn’t work,” Nicole insisted. “I need someone who is committed to family, and nothing about your life has been about family. Well, you’ve got a great family, and I know you care about them, but you haven’t had to be there for them.”
“That’s not true. Not by a long shot,” he growled, annoyance and anger pushed down so he didn’t lose his focus.
“You can’t argue with history, Troy.” She squeezed his fingers then slipped her hands free from his. “Maybe you’re right about the spontaneity versus planning thing, but you not being reliable is a deal breaker.”
“Bullshit.”
“No shit,” she snapped back. “And that’s not to mention the biggest deal breaker of them all. It’s all good and fine for you to offer me some sweet fairy tale about a white picket fence with two point five kids and a dog running around in the backyard. You straight-up tell me, Troy Thompson. You ready to have babies?”
“Physically, I think you’re the one who has to have them.”
She shot to her feet, towering over him as she planted both fists on her hips. “Stop joking around and answer the damn question. And don’t tell me what I want to hear, tell me the honest truth.”
Anger simmered, low and steady. She didn’t think he’d done shit for his family, because he’d always kept his actions quiet. He hadn’t wanted anyone to know he was stepping in, trying to make a difference, and now him being a sly bastard was coming back to bite him on the ass.
“Honest truth?” He ignored the other aching hurt and focused on this one issue. “I’m still a little shaky on the baby thing, but I know the first part is one hundred percent solid. I want to be with you, Nic. I want us to be together, and I want us to do the next thing at the right time. I don’t think any guy would say, ‘Hell, yeah, let’s go make a baby’ the instant you got involved.”
“So you can’t say you honestly want kids,” she declared triumphantly.
“No. I mean, yes. I mean, dammit, I think I want kids, but I’m glad it would take at least nine months for one to arrive, because am I ready to be a dad this instant? Hell, no. But I don’t think, if you’re being honest, you’d be all flipped-out happy if you could hit a button and have a kid pop into your arms, bazinga.”
She was still standing over him with fire in her eyes, only her lips were twitching.
“What?” he complained.
Nicole sniffed lightly, fighting her amusement. “Bazinga? Really?”
“Not the right sound effect?”
She shook her head as a smile finally broke free. “God, you are a special kind of frustrating, Troy Thompson.”
“Likewise, Ms. Adams.”
“We’re probably going to kill each other, you know.”
His heart gave a jolt. “Lame special-effects aside, does that mean we’re going out? Officially?”
One final moment of hesitation before she nodded. “Fine. We’ll give it a shot. It’s not as if I’ve got a long line of Prince Charmings waiting to sweep me off my feet.”
“Not unless you want to learn how to ride brown horses,” Troy offered, excitement rushing through him and making his head light.
Her mouth hung open. “Troy Thompson, you were eavesdropping.”
“Of course I was. I wasn’t about to let my girlfriend be swept off her feet by some eager-beaver farmer who might seduce her by taking her to see his fertilizer pile.”
Her lashes fluttered. “Girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend.” Troy rose and decisively gathered her into his arms. He lowered his voice, seductive and urgent at the same time. “I think we need to make it official, don’t you?”
He stroked her cheek, drifting his hand back until his fingers were buried in her hair. He’d do everything in his power to make them work, and he was willing to play dirty. He cupped the back of her head, tilting her neck as he stared hungrily at her lips.
Her breathing stuttered to a halt as she stared back.
Good thing dirty was going to be so much fun.
He smiled as he lowered his head.
Chapter Eight
She’d walked into a trap.
Unwittingly at first, but the longer Troy pushed, the more giving in to his nonsense made sense.
And now, with him looking at her as if he’d discovered a new flavour of ice cream, there was no alternative. She’d go along with his suggestion until the whole situation fell apart and even he had to admit that they were the wrong combination to try for forever.
At that point she’d probably have to up and leave town to find what she needed, because it was obvious Rocky was a dead-end for her, partner-wise.
But for now? His hand was hot against her skin. Nearly as hot as the pounding pressure inside her core as he stared hungrily. They were going to have sex. Which wouldn’t be boring, because sex with Troy was the opposite of boring.
Thank God, her brain squeezed out before her synapses could be scrambled by rapidly developing lu
st.
“I’m going to kiss you,” he warned needlessly. He held her motionless, bringing up his free hand to stroke his fingers over her cheek. Outlining the shape of her lips. “Over and over again.”
“Yes.”
His lips curled into a wicked smile. “You’re going to like this,” he promised.
Yes. Yes, she would.
He waited, touching and teasing, like he’d done during the speed dating. His talk about sex had set her squirming in her seat, and she’d have given anything at that moment to get him to back off.
Only now he didn’t need to hesitate. There was no reason for him to be moving so slowly.
“Anytime,” Nicole encouraged. “If you haven’t forgotten how.”
“It’s not a case of forgetting,” Troy murmured. “I’ve never done this before, and I want to make sure I get it exactly right.”
She rapidly dismissed the obviously wrong answers to his “never done this before”. He’d kissed a woman before. They’d kissed before… Hell, they’d done it all before.
“Nope,” she confessed, an involuntary shiver sweeping her as his fingers trailed down her neck to tease along the edge of her V-neck shirt. Fingertips hot against her skin. “You got me on that one, Troy. What haven’t you done before?”
He tightened his grip and leaned forward ever so slightly. “I’ve never kissed a serious girlfriend.”
His lips brushed hers. Gently. And again. Far too softly to be the cause of her heart rate soaring as much as it did. She sounded breathless when she spoke. “Don’t worry. I’m fairly confident you can make it up as you go along.”
His tongue traced the seam of her lips for one brief moment before he pulled away again. “I don’t know. Expectations are high. Plus, I’ve got too many options. Should it be slow and sweet until I make you tremble? Or should I kiss you like we’re on fire, and the only thing that can put out the flames is to burn up all the oxygen in the room?”
Nicole leaned forward, attempting to press them together, but he resisted. He held her steady, with the hand at her neck countered by the rock-solid grip on her hip. He eased his body back half an inch, which was enough to set them brushing together, but not in full contact. Heat wrapped around them, far more seductive and nerve tingling than an outright, blatant grind.
“You’re driving me crazy,” Nicole muttered.
“Payback. And ditto.”
He’d snuck his thumb under the bottom edge of her T-shirt, and as he kissed her again, he stroked the skin at her waist. The rest of his fingers were linked through the belt loop of her jeans, and it was apparent he wasn’t going anywhere, but that small motion combined with the touch of his lips—
She was drowning in sensation. Craving more. Going wild from sensory overload triggered by two small connections.
“Kisses.” Troy spoke against her lips, breath mingling with hers so she breathed him in. As if he couldn’t bear to pull away any farther. “So many kinds,” he said.
Nicole pressed forward harder. Urging him to increase his assault.
He fisted his fingers at the back of her head, tangling them in her hair and using it to control her. The small tug of pain made her gasp even as her nipples tightened and a hard pulse set off between her legs.
“Uh-uh,” he warned. “That’s not an option tonight.”
Jeez, he really was trying to kill her. “You’re punishing me for dating other guys,” she guessed.
He shook his head, stroking the skin at her waist like a touchstone. “I’m rewarding you for saying yes to dating me.”
“I’m on board for sex,” Nicole pointed out. “We’re pretty good at it, and it’s a lot of fun.”
“It is. It’s one of my favourite things, in fact. But we’re waiting.”
The buzzing need inside her flared in protest. If they could have, her brain and body would have cried out melodramatically in unison like a heroine in an old-fashioned novel.
Nooooooooooo.
“Tell me you’re kidding,” she pleaded.
He kissed her. Harder this time. More like the demanding and body-sating Troy she was familiar with. She clutched at him, striving to untuck his T-shirt from his jeans, but he caught her wrists and held her still. Lips moving over hers, his tongue took possession as he utterly and completely devastated her senses.
Once again, he pulled back. “Not kidding.”
Nicole dropped her forehead against his chest, breathing heavily. “You know, I’m pretty much a sure thing tonight.”
He chuckled. “Only we both want more than one night, baby.”
Damn him. He had her so mixed up she didn’t know which way she was going. “No sex—is that what you’re saying?”
“We’re dating, and I don’t fuck on the first date.”
Good lord. “Since when?”
“Since now.”
Because it meant making her blood boil then leaving her aching. “I know you,” Nicole said. “This isn’t you.”
He hummed as he released her wrists. “Really? Sweetheart, there’re a whole lot of things you don’t know about me.”
Troy was being a bloody brick wall, and she didn’t have the energy to fight him anymore. She curled her fingers into the fabric of his shirt, clinging tightly as she looked up and met his dark-brown eyes. “Then I guess it’s a good thing we’re going to date.”
“A very good thing.”
She smoothed her palms down his shirt before taking a step back. They stood a foot apart now, the living room light shining on his face, clearly illuminating the mischief in his expression.
“You’re enjoying this,” she accused.
“Immensely.” His smile flashed even brighter, and she had to smile in return.
Nicole glanced around the room, the heated frustration inside lingering, but there was something else there as well. Curiosity at the forefront—was it crazy that she loved not knowing what he would do next?
When she glanced back, Troy was gazing at her with something unreadable in his expression. Hope? Fear? Something far more serious than she remembered seeing there before.
The odds of this thing between them working was maybe forty-sixty, and not in their favour. The only item she could completely agree with him about was how hot the sexual attraction between them burned.
Maybe skipping the sex would make it clear quicker that they were flogging a dead horse with the relationship attempt.
“Okay. No sex tonight.”
“Damn. I was looking forward to doing unspeakable things to get you to agree with me.”
A laugh bubbled up, slipping past the tension and making her shoulders relax. “And here I agreed because you were refusing to do unspeakable things to me.”
“Good point.” Troy cupped her face in his hands. “Don’t worry,” he reassured her. “We’ll get back to the dirty, unspeakable things soon enough.”
“Promises, promises.”
“Yes, a promise.”
He kissed her again, and this time Nicole didn’t try to speed them up. Instead, she used all her senses to soak in every sensation possible.
The five o’clock shadow on his jaw scratched against her skin as he fluttered kisses to her ear. His breathing grew unsteady as he traced his tongue over her skin, heated air brushing past her. Cheek to cheek, he took hold of her earlobe and sucked it into his mouth, biting down lightly.
His hands rested on her hips, while hers were pressed to his torso. Like a living rock wall against her palms, his chest rose and fell as he explored his way back to her lips. Her entire body tingled, but she wasn’t sure if it was from a lack of oxygen or the potent taste of him racing through her system.
As a first-date kiss, this one ranked way the hell up there.
When he pulled back, she swayed toward him, just for a second before she pressed herself back to vertical, staring into his face.
His eyes seemed unfocused, as if he was as shocked by the impact as she was.
“I should be going,” he said soft
ly.
Nicole nodded, not trusting herself to respond. Not until he made it to the door, ready to leave. Then he turned, a more familiar teasing smile in place, even as determination shone in his eyes.
“What time do you want me to pick you up tomorrow night?” he asked.
A shiver of dread struck. They were really going to do this. They were really going to make it official and go out somewhere in public.
Oh. God.
“Yeah, I know,” he said.
“Did I say that out loud?” she asked in a panic.
He shook his head. “Your face. It pretty much matched what I was thinking.”
“We’re asking for nothing but trouble,” Nicole warned.
“Good thing we like trouble,” Troy returned. “Traders. We’ll go dancing.”
She swallowed hard and pulled in her courage. If they were going to do this, they might as well do it right. “Come for supper first. I have leftover lasagna in the freezer.”
His smile widened. “I’m going to like this dating deal.”
“It’s not that good of a lasagna,” Nicole deadpanned.
Instead of laughing, he stood there, his hand on the door, hesitating for far too long, his expression growing more serious until he swore.
“Ah, fuck it—”
He closed the distance between them, snapping her into his arms and laying siege to her lips. This time with as much passion as they’d ever shared. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t see. All she could do was accept the rising pleasure as he controlled her senses and made her ignite from the inside out.
Suddenly his grip on her loosened, and he turned on his heel and left. The door swung shut before she’d had time to take her first gasping breath.
Nicole staggered forward, hand against the doorframe as Troy hurried to his truck, escaping as if he knew speed was vital. As if he had to leave now or he would change his mind about everything, and they’d end up naked in the next five seconds.
She raised her hand to the glass in the door, heart pounding, a smile on her lips.
It was good to know they were tormenting each other.
Troy drove straight home, still in pain by the time he pulled into his parking stall. He sat there taking deep breaths to try to clear his head.